A teacher was left stunned when an enormous eagle swooped into her living room as she sat down to watch TV.
Wendy Morrell, 55, was stunned when the Russian Steppe Eagle - which has a wingspan of four metres - flew into her home in Poole, Dorset.
The retired teacher and her friend, Karen Ruddlesden, tried to coax the bird down after it perched on top of Ms Morrell's cabinet, eating her pot pourii.
Ms Morrell's friend put on a winter jacket and gloves for protection and tried to lure the big bird down.
When that failed, the pair placed pieces of ham outside in a bid to tempt it out - before resorting to calling in their local bird rescue centre.
Ms Morrell said: "It was a bit of a shock. We had just sat down with our two dogs to watch the French Open when I heard Karen scream: 'A bird!'
"I am used to little fledglings hitting my patio doors, but when I turned round, I saw this enormous bird swoop in, just missing Karen, and heading for my cabinet.
"Our dogs, Udo and Coco, were going berserk, so we put them into another room while we tried to figure out what to do. We didn't know whether they would hurt the bird or the bird might hurt them.
"In desperation, I tried Googling 'Eagle in my living room', but eventually we decided to call our local police station - who put us through to a bird sanctuary."
Jon Ball, from Wessex Birds of Prey Rescue, eventually managed to coax the eagle - named Storm - down with a dead chick, and reunite him with owner James Moore.
Mr Ball said: "When we got a call to say there was a large bird in a living room, I thought it would be a sparrowhawk.
"I was pretty stunned when I arrived to find this massive eagle.
"I had to call my wife, Terri, who runs the sanctuary with me, and tell her I was going to need a bigger box.
"Luckily, I actually knew the owner of the eagle, who had reported him missing - he had escaped after he was spooked by a loud noise while being trained to scare off seagulls at a nearby tip - so I knew he was a real softy who was used to human contact."
The eagle had been reported missing three days before it turned up at Wendy's house after it was frightened by a loud bang and broke its tethers.
Ms Morrell added: "While we were waiting for Jon to arrive, he told us to draw the curtains and leave the light off, so as not to panic the bird.
"He didn't seem in a panic at all - he was quite happily sitting in my living room, strutting about. He obviously didn't think he was in any danger.
"All the neighbours were coming round and taking pictures of the bird once it had been rescued - they couldn't believe their eyes.
"I'm glad the bird was reunited with his owner. James called me this morning to apologise on behalf of his bird.
